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Media Resources Inc.

Multidimensional Signage Solutions

Media Resources Inc. (MRI) is in the business of making a big, bold and brilliant impression by blurring the boundaries between traditional advertising platforms. The company primarily specialized in sign installation but over the course of four decades has expanded with large-format printing and ancillary manufacturing capabilities to bring LED displays, digital displays, 3-D formats, tri-vision displays and point-of-purchase digital printing to the table, making MRI the company to call when competitors can’t realize a client’s advertising vision. MRI takes pride in providing cost-effective custom solutions on each project, in addition to being the single-source signage expert for one-stop shopping.

“We serve anyone who advertises outside the home,” says Steve Gallow, partner and chairman of MRI. The company is based out of Toronto, but to meet the needs of clients worldwide maintains branches in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York City, Miami, Fla., and San Diego, Calif. MRI employs over 140 professionals, all of whom bring creative ideas to life with custom signage that turns any space into an advertising opportunity.

MRI was once known as Grant Sign Group in its early days, offering custom sign engineering, design manufacturing and maintenance services as well as providing parts, systems and often permitting services and site surveys. But as technology advanced, MRI was quick to add the capabilities appropriate in order to cover the gamut of indoor, outdoor and interactive displays.

The company added large-format digital printing in 2000 and has since gone on to install its creations along major highways around North America and in major urban centers around the world. The MRI team can print any image up to 600 dpi resolution thanks to the company’s state-of-the-art seaming machines that fuse together panels, leaving no visual evidence of the process behind and assuring graphics are crisp, clear and vibrant at any size. MRI can print on virtually any material, including paper, carpet, glass, flexible materials and self-adhesive materials, giving clients the ability to turn any available space into an advertising opportunity.

Total Quality Control

In fact, MRI acquired an Ontario-based company in 2011 that specializes in designing and manufacturing electronic indoor and outdoor LED displays for commercial, entertainment and sporting markets, which has bolstered the company’s position in the worldwide market. The company can produce scoreboards, entertainment displays and any size digital billboard using cost-effective units that adjust to the ambient lighting conditions for energy-efficient operation. MRI’s LED billboards are made with unparalleled attention to detail and they boast some of the widest viewing angles in the industry, averaging 160 degrees horizontally and 70 degrees vertically.

All of MRI’s diodes are sourced from the same color bin ensuring consistent color quality and brilliance, and billboard cabinets are made using only powder-coated aluminum for total weatherproofing. The company has successfully operated its units with an average of 100,000 LED life hours and in conditions ranging from negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. MRI conducts color matching tests and adjustments during installation, allowing the billboards to function as imagined; every single one comes with the company’s five-year parts warranty, one-year labor warranty and pole mounted security cameras with hosting computers, dimming sensors and dimming sensors.

MRI can even install systems that allow a user to upload images and materials remotely from any computer using proprietary software that guides the user through the process. The software also enables the user to see what materials are being displayed at any given time.

It may have the capabilities to cover skyscrapers, but MRI is also happy to work with clients on a smaller scale. The company can produce banners, event signage, point of purchase displays, stage and studio backdrop displays and street furniture.

Single-source Signage

MRI has built itself a reputation for taking care of clients at every stage of a project’s life cycle. The company offers project management services so clients can request additional materials implemented across platforms for consistent branding. MRI’s in-house prepress team will color match every shade according to Pantone’s system, making reproductions precise, consistent and in-line with the client’s image. MRI will also handle any installation, permitting and site surveys, including verification of all measurements to ensure every installation is exact.

Even after the signage has been installed, MRI’s team of over 100 professionals can look after the signage to ensure it looks as good on day one as it does on day 1,000, which comes in handy considering MRI’s colorful portfolio. An interactive tic-tac-toe display for Lay’s potato chips, a 15-foot tall scaled replica of absolute vodka and a replica Mini Cooper driving across a vertical wall are just some of the highlights from MRI’s recent projects.

Upcoming projects involve LED signage for a multinational fast food chain, signage for public transit shelters in Argentina and some work for a few movie theaters, which Gallow hopes will extend into additional work in the near future. As MRI expands its reach internationally and strengthens its customer base across the Americas, the company will continue to focus on investing internally to streamline operations and become a consolidated solutions provider to the sign industry. Media Resources Inc. will continue to make a bold impression on consumers by blurring the boundaries between two-dimensional and three-dimensional marketing mediums.